Core should be replaced! She authorized and paid for lobster and alcohol on the taxpayers dime. I like fitzmorris a tad more as he seems to NOT have the spending problem that Core has been caught up in.

The legislative auditor tells us that they had thousands of dollars in meals without receipts. Ms. Core states that her people worked long hours so she fed them. I say nonsense. A well managed department doesn't have audit results like these.

Take care of the way things look and you take care of how things are. It not only looks bad but smells bad. Let's have father and son remove themselves from this public spectacle and do our best to restore public confidence in the organizations; assuming that is possible at all.

I agree with LibJLocke. No need for the expense of a police department when you have St. Tammany finest a few blocks away. Mike Cooper's "stamp" on the city could be one of fiscal responsibility and cutting his budget when taxes are high and people need a break. Eliminate the department like Abita did a few years ago.

Didn't St. Tammany just buy the water company recently? I'm not surprised they raised the rates. Kevin Davis has to find a way to fund the Xmas party now that the legislative auditor has stated that funding those parties with taxpayers dollars is illegal. Actually, Kevin will be moving into the poshly appointed Assessor's office soon after he wins the election over the deeply wounded Schwarts-Core. Kevin recommended to approve the assessors budget without having read it. More of the same. Don't be surprised when your property taxes go up again. We keep electing the same people, don't expect different results.

Government has no role in this. However, we keep sending people to BR to make laws and if you sit and listen to these elected officials, you would wonder how they ever kept a job much less got elected. They are creating a nanny state with our tax dollars. Twice yesterday there were officers standing at exits in Mandeville checking to see if there were people without seatbelts and writing tickets. How long before they wait outside your house to ensure you brushed your teeth?

Would the captain being out of the cabin for the initial problem be a consideration? Perhaps the two other pilots were less experienced? The captain never took the controls again? Perhaps he thought it was best to have his hands free and monitor from the nav seat and give direction?

Lloyd is confused? He doesn't like his mileage cancelled but is confused about the 60k in car allowances? I'm confused too. Eliminate the car allowances, period! Let them drive a state vehicle for business purposes or let them drive their POV and claim necessary mileage. Oh, and take away any city credit cards too. They seem to be abused by public officials like the assessor. Remember, Patricia Schwartz Core did NOT have the lobster at Ruth's Chris that the taxpayers paid for.

Lloyd is confused? He doesn't like his mileage cancelled but is confused about the 60k in car allowances? I'm confused too. Eliminate the car allowances, period! Let them drive a state vehicle for business purposes or let them drive their POV and claim necessary mileage. Oh, and take away any city credit cards too. They seem to be abused by public officials like the assessor. Remember, Patricia Schwartz Core did NOT have the lobster at Ruth's Chris that the taxpayers paid for.

The increase will save $70 million per year but will go to the GENERAL FUND and not the debt of Lasers that the state keeps ignoring? That is nothing more than a tax on state workers !! If the 70 million went to the Lasers fund I think it might be fair but the GENERAL fund? Really?

Well said! However, even if he had NO credit card he could use his own and seek reimbursement like the sheriff did down south. I think that official used the card for $500,000 in expenses (according to NOLA.com.)

Elected officials should only serve one term of any office in my humble opinion. This worker seems to be either appointed by the mayor or civil service. He took something of value and didn't report it and it came from someone doing business with the city. The practice is wrong and corrupting.

I wonder if that Hawaii trip RN took will ever be the topic of conversation again?

Well, NolaChris99, your comments might be germane if someone hadn't lost their LIFE!! I don't care about the color of the driver, I care about the man who was using the road innocently and probably didn't even see the car coming before his life was taken from him. The driver, regardless of race, was obviously not in control of his vehicle and allowed it to take the life of another. I find jail and yes, PRISON appropriate for this careless user of our roadways. Perhaps other drivers will take note and put their cell phones down and pay attention.

His attitude demonstrates that he is unworthy of the public trust. It sounds extreme but why not disband the city as an entity altogether? I'd like to have the $480 per year in property taxes I pay them because it will be squandered away by unaccountable officials of the city. Disband them and allow St. Tammany to take over the provision of services. Their police department is token anyways. Jack Strain has enough deputies and experience to keep the streets safe and the rest of the parish gov is better suited than the tiny municipality.

This mentality is where LA begins in its leadership in incarcerating more adults per capita than anywhere else on planet earth. Schools and their zero tolerance policy refer more kids to the juvenile justice system than any other organization. We do know about the JJ system in LA, right? There isn't a front end or a back end to that system, just a frightful place where kids learn to be better criminals. There are better ways to solve our problems than shackling and incarcerating. These lessons are learned the hard and expensive way in our state. Consider the cost of incarcerating a juvenile for a year or more and then the cost of incarcerating that same child when they age predictably into the adult system.

An outside observer might look at how we treat our children and guess that we are intentionally driving them into prisons to sustain that industry. Until we see them as precious resources and potential taxpaying citizens we will be stuck in this cycle that perpetuates the old, comfortable ways and outcomes.